Vertical shaft bearing



July 2, 1935. v KELLER, JR 2,006,951

VERTICAL SHAFT BEARING Filed Oct. 7, 1933 Rwa l Inventor: George .Keller Jr:

His ttorney.

Patented July 2, 1935 UNITED STATES VERTICAL SHAFT BEARING GeorgeV.'Keller, Jr., Lynn, Mass., assignor to General Electric Company, acorporation of New York Application October 7, 1933, Serial No. 692,632

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to vertical shaft bearings, moreparticularly to arrangements in which a rotary shaft is verticallyarranged and supported by lower and upper bearings.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved construction andarrangement of the type specified in which the bearings are efficientlylubricated.

For a consideration of what I consider to be novel and my invention,attention is directed tothe following specification and the claimappended thereto in connection with the accompanying drawing which formsa part, of my specification.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 illustrates a machine provided with bearingsembodying my invention, and Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view along line22 of Fig. 1.

The machine shown by way of example is a dynamo electric machinecomprising a rotor with a commutator Ii] fastened to a verticallyarranged shaft ll rotatably supported in lower and upper bearingstructures I2 and I3 respec tively. The bearing structures are held inan outer casing 14 including a shield or cap l5 fastened to the casingby bolts It to completely enclose the machine. The arrangement so fardescribed is Well known in the art.

In accordance with my'invention the lower casing portion is formed todefine a chamber or compartment 4'! for containing lubricant E8. Thecompartment has a recessed inner wall l9 defining a seat for a bearing25. is preferably made of bearing metal, or if desired provided with alining of bearing metal. The bearing 20 is prevented from verticalmovement by a sleeve 2! fastened to the upper wall of the compartment byscrews 22 and defining a. cover for the compartment l8. Theinner wall ofthe compartment is defined by a stand-tube 23 inserted in a central boreof the lower casing portion and held in position by a nut 24. Thebearing surface of bearing 21} engages a capshaped sleeve 25 which hasan upper portion secured to the shaft by a set screw 28 and a lowerportion concentrically arranged about and spaced from the stand-tube 23.The bearing 20 has a groove 21 cut into its surface. One end of thegroove is connected to the outer region of the compartment through abore 28; the other end of the groove defines a dam 29 and is connectedthrough a channel 30 'to a tube 3| projecting through the casing of themachine.

The upper bearing structure l3 comprises a .tank 32 having an outerflanged portion seated in a recess of the casing and a flanged lowerportion 33 defining a compartment 34. The

shaft ll projects through the flanged bottom The latter,

portion 33 and has a reduced end portion provided with a collar 35supported by' a. bearing member 3?. portion 38' of the tank 32. 39surrounding the flanged portion 33 isfastened to the reduced end portionof the shaft to prevent oil or like lubricant from leaking along theshaft into the machine. The bearing 31 has a bearing surface providedwith a groove 40 connected through a channel M to the tube 3!. Thecompartment 35 of the tank communication with the compartment l8 of thelower bearing structure through a conduit 42.

During operation, the lower shaft, together with the lower bearing actas a pump to force lubricant through the conduit 3! and the channel 4!,into the upper bearing. The lubricant discharged from the upper bearinginto the compartment 350i the upper tank is-returned to the compartmentI8 through the conduit 42.

By my invention, I have accomplished an im- 7 proved vertical shaftbearing arrangement in which a lower bearing, together with the shaftare immersed in oil or like lubricant and act as a pump for supplyinglubricantto an upper,

The arrangement is particularly ad- What'I claim as new and desire tosecure by,

Letters. Patent of the United States is:

In an engine having a casing and a vertically arranged rotatable shaft,a compartment for lubricant defined by the casing surrounding a lowerportion of the shaft, a single friction bearing for the lower portion ofthe shaft fastened to the inner wall of the compartment, the bearingsurface having a circumferentially extending groove defining a dam,-oneend of the groove receiving lubricant from the compartment The latter isseated in a recessed A cap or deflectorthrough a radial bore inthebearing, a conduit '7 GEORGE v. KELLER, JR.

